Virus infection creates immunity for at least six months, finds an Oxford study

London – Coronavirus-infected individuals are unlikely to recover the disease for at least six months, Oxford University researchers said Friday.

The finding is part of a large-scale study of COVID-19 reinfection after observations from health professionals that the phenomenon was relatively rare.

Oxford University professor David Eyre, one of the study’s authors, called the results “really good news.”

“We can be sure that, at least in the short term, most people who get COVID-19 will not get it again,” he said.

The authors pointed out that they have not yet collected enough data to make a judgment on reinfection after six months.

However, the ongoing study has the ultimate goal of verifying how long overall protection from reinfection lasts.

The director of infection prevention and control at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) study partners, Katie Jeffery, called the discovery “exciting”.

He indicated that “infection with the virus provides at least short-term protection from reinfection,” he added.

US biotech company Moderna announced this week that its vaccine candidate was nearly 95 percent effective in a trial, a week after similar results were announced by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed the study stating that the findings expanded its understanding of coronavirus protection.

“We really commend the researchers for conducting these studies,” WHO Emergency Director Michael Ryan told reporters in Geneva, explaining that the results provided the “best data.”

Ryan added that the detailed antibody response in the research gave “hope for longer periods of protection” from vaccine candidates.

The Oxford reinfection study drew on data from regular coronavirus testing from 12,180 healthcare workers at OUH over a 30-week period.

It found that none of the 1,246 staff members with coronavirus antibodies developed a symptomatic infection.

Three staff members with antibodies tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 but were all fine and developed no symptoms.

WHO said it is working with 50 countries where antibody responses are being studied in different groups, such as in the general population or among healthcare professionals.

The UN health agency said it was putting these findings together to provide a bigger picture of how the pandemic was developing.